Lowest MCAT Acceptances

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OK, so there has been this 5-page thread, as of today, in the Pre-Allopathic section about lowest MCAT scores for people who have gotten in. I'm sure many of you guys have seen it. Some of the information was encouraging, however, not necessarily applicable to those of us who are osteopathic applicants.

Let's here 'em, I would really love to hear this straight from medical students who know first hand.......
 
CVPA-HOWDY!
I know someone accepted with a 21 overall, good prior experience ( P.A.), and around 3.3 gpa.
 
I do know of one person who got in with a 21, but she had a 4.0 gpa. The next lowest I know of was a 24 with a 3.45 gpa. Both folks had alot of clinical experience.
 
i know someone who got in with a 20 mcat and a 3.5 gpa.
 
That I know of...
Lowest (unconfirmed) : 19
Lowest (confirmed) : 20
 
I don't want to sound like an ass here, but what medical school is accepting students with a 20 on the MCAT? Isn't the MCAT supposed to be a reflection of a student's understanding and application of basic science classes taken as preparation for medical school? Does a 20 signify that one is prepared to face the rigors of medical school basic sciences??? I got a 29 and I feel overwhelmed and behind in the basics sometimes...
 
I don't want to sound like an ass here, but what medical school is accepting students with a 20 on the MCAT? Isn't the MCAT supposed to be a reflection of a student's understanding and application of basic science classes taken as preparation for medical school? Does a 20 signify that one is prepared to face the rigors of medical school basic sciences??? I got a 29 and I feel overwhelmed and behind in the basics sometimes...
Click to expand...

I think you just answered your own question about the MCAT's ability to predict success in med school.

Its funny I saw this thread today because I just found out that the lowest MCAT score for a med school matriculant is a 10. Some one actually got into med school with a 10. What I can't figure out is who told this person to apply? I got this from our assistant dean of admissions and she had just seen the national statistics on it.
 
Don't you get a 10 when you enter your name correctly?
 
By the time you get to your third year of medical school nobody cares about what MCAT score you have. Personally I think it's a good test of memory and you need that especially for Biochemistry and Anatomy.

But do yourselves a favor, we all have had off days so maybe the day of the MCAT test was one of them for some people (it's situational stressor and can cause great anxiety and poor cognitive performance for those otherwise talented students).
few people retake it if they have high GPA's b/c basically they have already proven they can succeed based on their grades.

Unfortunately grades and MCATS are the only way to judge the masses of applicants. Sometime a student will tour a facility, do some summer research, or take a course at the university that gives the applicant an advantage.

However you gain enterance into medical school your goal is to make it through and many people do regardless of what the numbers say. Good luck in your quest remember persistence is the key.
🙂 Diane
 
MCAT score and GPA do not predict whether a person will be a great doctor in the future. Instead, I think it depends more on personality and persistence...at least in getting into medical school. Remember, even people with low or high MCAT scores have to PASS medical school before becoming a doctor.

The MCAT/GPA is just a way for the admissions board to set some standard of letting people in. It's kind of like the nursing school here, anyone can get into the program, but about 75% of the class either fail or drop out because of the aggressive program.

My point is, I don't see anything wrong in letting people with low MCAT scores in --- everything comes down to whether you can pass the classes and boards.
 
mcats don't mean anything!I know someone who got in with a 20 and will graduate medical school with a 3.9 GPA.
 
MCATs do mean something. From the med schools' perspective, it's an indicator of how well students will perform on the USMLE or COMLEX. Med schools are extremely concerned about their board pass rates ...so it would make sense that they want to fill their classrooms with good test-takers. So, the MCAT may be a lousy predictor of what kind of doctor you'll be, but it is a great predictor of how you'll do on your board exams.
 
Sorry for the allopathic intrusion, but I wanted to add my two cents. I have heard that med schools say that the MCAT is a reflection of how someone will do on the Boards... In my case, this wasn't true. I was not admitted to (MD or DO) school in the US, and still managed to take the Boards after the second year and score just as well as those in US schools... So please don't generalize...
 
I scored a 28 on my MCAT (wow, that was almost 4 years ago), and passed COMLEX one in the top %age.
As much as the MCAT sucks, it is objective, and when an admission committee has thousands of applications to go through, it has to have an objective screening tool. That's what the MCAT is for. I know people who scored much higher than I did on the MCAT, did about as well as I did in med school, but had to work their butt off 10x more. They had no social life, either. I also know someone who got in with a 21, and although this student wasn't at the top of the class, this student managed to pass (so far) and will graduate as a DOCTOR.
There are so many hoops one has to jump through to become a physician, and the MCAT is just one.
 
check out the jaoa journal, there was a study done in the last six months or so and the reasearch showed that your medical school performance is a better indicator of your board scores then your mcat score
 
I personally made it into medical school with an MCAT score of 23 (Avg. was 24). Not great huh! I did, however, graduate from college with cum laude honors and worked 32-48hrs hours a week doing it as a transplant coordinator. So, I guess I had some other things going for me that the admissions committee liked.
I then scored in the 83rd percentile on the USMLE and slightly lower on the COMLEX exam. So, at least in my case, the MCAT was not a great predictor for the boards.
One thing I like about how my school selects students is that they balance your application between letters of recommendation, experiences (work and or volunteer), previous 2-3 yr. GPA during undergrad, and MCAT scores. So, some parts of your application may compensate for others. After that they interview the students and the interviewers do not get to see any part of your file. Everyone who interviewed was on the same playing field. They then made the decision of who got in from the interview where they were interested in who you were more than anything. Interestingly my school has a greater than 99% pass rate on the boards step 1 and 2 as well as the highest per student average. They must be doing something right . There happens to be very few ...holes in my class as well.
The moral of this story is that schools often look at the whole application not just one part in deciding who they are going to admit to their class. Always remember to look at the whole picture. (gee, does this sound familiar?) If medicine is your passion, go for it and do not let anyone talk you out of it (even with low MCAT scores.
 
Wow, I have to tell you, I have never heard of scores that low getting in. Dont get me wrong, if they get threw school and become physicians -- all the power to them, but I took the mcat and almost cried when I got a 29. I had to take it over just so I did not worry myself to tears about getting into med school. The funny thing is I did somewhat better on the second test -- but never even went to med school!
 
I got a 29 and it took me 3 years to get in. It's not all about the MCAT's, but rather the whole picture.
 
I really liked this thread that's why I had to comment on it. I found it, at times, gave me hope in the face of such great odds. However, since my acceptance just the other day, I wanted to share my story, and yes, my stats.

I entered the April MCAT's with an undergraduate GPA of 2.97.....competetively weak and somewhat laughable at best. What can I say, I was young and flat out immature. I was always interested in medicine but I could never prioritize my education ahead of the rest of my college experience. And I must say, I was definitely out for the whole college experience. Work hard, and play harder. Unfortunately with this mentality there was no way I could keep the good grades I was used to. Anyway, After undergrad. I could not even fathum any type of post grad. work and the thought of medical school revolted me. I went into the work force and after a few years ended up in a health related field with reinvigerated aspirations of medicine. I had been volunteering in the community all along and most of all I had grown up a little (ok, a lot). I prepared for the MCAT's knowing full-well that I needed to have an impressive score to have any chance at all....The scores came and to say the least they were not what I was expecting or hoping for. I received a 24. I almost bagged the whole thing right there. However, after some perspective tweaking and confidence building I decided that I had a lot of life experience that set me apart from many prospective students. I interviewsd at half the schools I applied to, and out of those, one accepted me and that's all it takes.
I plan to work harder than I have ever worked before and I plan to do just fine in med school. Will I be prepared? Well, probably less than some and more than others. I believe even the most intelligent people get slapped around a little upon entering med. school. I can honestly say that I am prepared to be slapped repeatedly (and not just from the women I meet) until I have accomplished my goal.
I had to tell this story because it, too me, is so unbelievable. I took the long way around and don't regret it one bit. I hope this little blurp gives some one out there a bit of hope that anything is possible when you want it bad enough. 😉
 
I really liked this thread that's why I had to comment on it. I found it, at times, gave me hope in the face of such great odds. However, since my acceptance just the other day, I wanted to share my story, and yes, my stats.

I entered the April MCAT's with an undergraduate GPA of 2.97.....competetively weak and somewhat laughable at best. What can I say, I was young and flat out immature. I was always interested in medicine but I could never prioritize my education ahead of the rest of my college experience. And I must say, I was definitely out for the whole college experience. Work hard, and play harder. Unfortunately with this mentality there was no way I could keep the good grades I was used to. Anyway, After undergrad. I could not even fathum any type of post grad. work and the thought of medical school revolted me. I went into the work force and after a few years ended up in a health related field with reinvigerated aspirations of medicine. I had been volunteering in the community all along and most of all I had grown up a little (ok, a lot). I prepared for the MCAT's knowing full-well that I needed to have an impressive score to have any chance at all....The scores came and to say the least they were not what I was expecting or hoping for. I received a 24. I almost bagged the whole thing right there. However, after some perspective tweaking and confidence building I decided that I had a lot of life experience that set me apart from many prospective students. I interviewsd at half the schools I applied to, and out of those, one accepted me and that's all it takes.
I plan to work harder than I have ever worked before and I plan to do just fine in med school. Will I be prepared? Well, probably less than some and more than others. I believe even the most intelligent people get slapped around a little upon entering med. school. I can honestly say that I am prepared to be slapped repeatedly (and not just from the women I meet) until I have accomplished my goal.
I had to tell this story because it, too me, is so unbelievable. I took the long way around and don't regret it one bit. I hope this little blurp gives some one out there a bit of hope that anything is possible when you want it bad enough. 😉
 
I really liked this thread that's why I had to comment on it. I found it, at times, gave me hope in the face of such great odds. However, since my acceptance just the other day, I wanted to share my story, and yes, my stats.

I entered the April MCAT's with an undergraduate GPA of 2.97.....competetively weak and somewhat laughable at best. What can I say, I was young and flat out immature. I was always interested in medicine but I could never prioritize my education ahead of the rest of my college experience. And I must say, I was definitely out for the whole college experience. Work hard, and play harder. Unfortunately with this mentality there was no way I could keep the good grades I was used to. Anyway, After undergrad. I could not even fathum any type of post grad. work and the thought of medical school revolted me. I went into the work force and after a few years ended up in a health related field with reinvigerated aspirations of medicine. I had been volunteering in the community all along and most of all I had grown up a little (ok, a lot). I prepared for the MCAT's knowing full-well that I needed to have an impressive score to have any chance at all....The scores came and to say the least they were not what I was expecting or hoping for. I received a 24. I almost bagged the whole thing right there. However, after some perspective tweaking and confidence building I decided that I had a lot of life experience that set me apart from many prospective students. I interviewsd at half the schools I applied to, and out of those, one accepted me and that's all it takes.
I plan to work harder than I have ever worked before and I plan to do just fine in med school. Will I be prepared? Well, probably less than some and more than others. I believe even the most intelligent people get slapped around a little upon entering med. school. I can honestly say that I am prepared to be slapped repeatedly (and not just from the women I meet) until I have accomplished my goal.
I had to tell this story because it, too me, is so unbelievable. I took the long way around and don't regret it one bit. I hope this little blurp gives some one out there a bit of hope that anything is possible when you want it bad enough. 😉
 
I really liked this thread that's why I had to comment on it. I found it, at times, gave me hope in the face of such great odds. However, since my acceptance just the other day, I wanted to share my story, and yes, my stats.

I entered the April MCAT's with an undergraduate GPA of 2.97.....competetively weak and somewhat laughable at best. What can I say, I was young and flat out immature. I was always interested in medicine but I could never prioritize my education ahead of the rest of my college experience. And I must say, I was definitely out for the whole college experience. Work hard, and play harder. Unfortunately with this mentality there was no way I could keep the good grades I was used to. Anyway, After undergrad. I could not even fathum any type of post grad. work and the thought of medical school revolted me. I went into the work force and after a few years ended up in a health related field with reinvigerated aspirations of medicine. I had been volunteering in the community all along and most of all I had grown up a little (ok, a lot). I prepared for the MCAT's knowing full-well that I needed to have an impressive score to have any chance at all....The scores came and to say the least they were not what I was expecting or hoping for. I received a 24. I almost bagged the whole thing right there. However, after some perspective tweaking and confidence building I decided that I had a lot of life experience that set me apart from many prospective students. I interviewsd at half the schools I applied to, and out of those, one accepted me and that's all it takes.
I plan to work harder than I have ever worked before and I plan to do just fine in med school. Will I be prepared? Well, probably less than some and more than others. I believe even the most intelligent people get slapped around a little upon entering med. school. I can honestly say that I am prepared to be slapped repeatedly (and not just from the women I meet) until I have accomplished my goal.
I had to tell this story because it, too me, is so unbelievable. I took the long way around and don't regret it one bit. I hope this little blurp gives some one out there a bit of hope that anything is possible when you want it bad enough. 😉
 
Obviously, I was so impressed with my own story I had to post it not once, not twice, but yes like four times. I have no idea what happened. 🙄
 
thanks sport for your words of encouragement,

like you i have been out of school for a while and was getting a bit discouraged with my results. you see my stats are gpa 3.4 (3.35 non-science and 3.55 science) and mcat 22 in 2001 and a 23 in 1995. I have had a couple of interview but nothing solid and fear that this year may not be the time for me. thank you for your words of encouragement. may i ask you what school you got accepted. i like to go to msucom, iowa, or lecom. so i figure i probably will have to retake the mcat this upcoming april.
 
WSU,

I was accepted to AZCOM. I understand the anxiety that your going through, but be confident, stick the interview and let it go after that.
I wish you the best of luck.
 
WSU - one thing to keep in mind is that the interview at AZCOM is closed-file. That means the interviewers will not have access to your transcript or MCAT scores. So if you get an interview, you've pretty much passed all the academic tests and so all you have to do is knock 'em dead at the interview. Good luck!
 
Acurar,

I was wondering, did you really score in the 83 percentile of the USMLE or was it just the 2 digit score that came with your 3 digit score. They don't give out the percentile score anymore. If it's the 2 digit score which is far from a percentile score, then your true percentile score is more like 40%. This is probably significantly lower than your COMLEX score which I presume is around 80%.
 
Hi Folks-

I'm an M1 who got into NSU-COM with a 2.6 cum. GPA and 27 on the MCAT. Similarly "laughable" numbers. Oh, by the way, I'm on a full scholarship.


Obviously, there's more than meets the eye, here. I graduated undergrad in 1991 with a 2.4 gpa in Mechanical Engineering. My science pre-reqs (taken over the past 2 years) were 25 credits of 4.0.

I've spent 10 years as a Naval Flight Officer, as well as Mountaineering up and down the Sierras...obviously lots to talk about in interviews.

I'm on an Navy HPSP scholarship, which I got mainly because of my prior service (and good fitness reports)

I applied to about 10 schools (An even MD/DO split), got into Nova and waitlisted by PCOM. Rejected by all others.

The bottom line is that everybody has a story to bring to their application, and you never know what is going to strike a cord with the admissons board. Getting in takes perserverence, hard work and a little luck. (or maybe a lot of luck 🙂

I currently have a 94% average in Anatomy, and low 90's in my other classes (Histo, Clinical, Biochem, etc.) We'll see how the grades hold up after finals 🙂 Apparently, my MCATs and GPA were *not* indicative of how poorly I would do in the first semester of medical school. We'll see about boards in a year and a half...

In my opinion, almost *anybody* can get into medical school, but the path is going to be longer for some, shorter for others. Being a doctor is a whole lot more than statistics, and that's what you should take to heart.

Cheers,
-sb
 
Hey, ...I got in with a 3.4 and 24 to a few places......now I'm just wondering about the Anatomy course, heard that it is Hell? Was it, or should I say is it?.........Do you use Netter...Atlas of Human Anatomy? If so, If I were to start studying to get a jump, where do I start, there is so much........what did they make you start doing when u first started?......Thanks
 
At risk of changing this thread (somebody feel free to start a new one, if this one gets rolling) here's my cut on Gross Anatomy:

First: Do not approach medical school with the "what's the least I know to become a doctor" approach. You patients will not come to you only with problems that were on the test. The short answer is you will need to know everything (all the bones, all the muscles, all the nerves, etc.) Okay. Enough motherhood.

The long answer, however, is that you can concentrate on the more significant anatomical structures. Our anatomy class has been mostly major structures (the primary muscles that move things, nerves that innervate them, or have autonomic significance and so on) and structures with a significant clinical correlation. (For example, a nerve that is easily damaged, and the accompanying clinical signs).

Personally, I think you should enjoy your summer and *NOT* study anything. Realistically, you're not going to be able to reduce your study time by very much even if you bust your ass during the summer learning stuff. If you just can't stand not having your head buried in a book, I'd work on the bones. They're pretty straightforward, and most atlases provide decent depictions. Just realize that you miss out on the 3D aspects of the bones, but if might be helpful to memorize the names of the bones (and more importantly, the features of them)

Regarding the Common Textbooks and Atlases associated with Gross Anatomy:

Netter's Atlas: Great pictures. This seems to be the standard by which all others are judged.

Rohen, J.W. et. al. "Color Atlas of Anatomy: A Photographic Study": As the name implies, this is a photographic atlas, which is a lot more effective in giving you a feel for what things will "really" look like. (BTW, don't think that your own dissection will look anything like the pics in the Rohen boook...I swear the bodies they dissected are still warm, they look so good.)

Grant's Atlas: Personally, I liked this atlas better. In addition to the nice drawings, there are tables of muscles, nerves and arteries which are helpful in organizing and memorizing the information.

Moore, et. al. "Clinical Anatomy": This is the book I would buy if I could do it all over again. It has very similar pictures to the Grant atlas, plus a ton of great clinical pictures, diagrams and explainations.

Moore, et. al.: "Essential Clinical Anatomy": This is the readers-digest version of the Clinical Anatomy book. I found it helpful for taking into the Anatomy lab when studying. If it got covered in formaldahyde (or worse) I didn't mind if it got ruined.

There are obviously more, this is just a list of the ones that I used over the past semester.

If I could buy only 1, it would be the Moore "Essential Clinical Anatomy." If I could buy 2, it would be the Moore book and the Rohen Atlas. My 3rd choice is the Netter atlas, just out of principle.

However, what I recommend is that you take the summer off, and when school starts for you, go to the medical library and check out each of the above, and study out of them for the first couple of weeks (your library will probably have several copies on reserve) and then go out and buy the one(s) that you like the best.

<sigh> Sorry this is so long, but I haven't the time to make it any shorter.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,
-sb
 
Research has shown that there is not just a correlation, but a HIGH correlation between MCAT scores and academic performance in medical school. I think that is a crock of horse s**t. I'm sure that research was skewed just so AMCAS and AACOMAS could justify putting us through such a horrible test.
I don't snoop around and try to find out my classmate's MCAT scores because the truth is, once you are accepted, they don't matter, and never will again. ONce you are in, forget what your MCAT score because it doesn't mean a damn thing. It would be the same as riding on your ACT score through college, nobody cares what you got, and helluforsure no one wants to hear what you got, especially from you.
People get into medical school with low MCATS or GPA's for one reason: Life experiences. Whether they be clinical or otherwise, people with low scores still get in because they have done something else with their life to make up for that.
I do happen to know of several people who got into medical schools with low 20s, and one with a high teens score (but I think this person got in because they "knew" someone on the inside). Point is, if your scores are low, do something to make up for it. People with low scores do not still get into school based on the heavenly mercies of admissions committees. INstead, they have something to make up for their weaknesses.
 
Hello Stickboy......

Thanks a million for the thorough response, it was very helpful!!!!! I know I should take this time off, but u know how it is....I'll probably realize what ur saying once school starts up. Well anyways, just a note, I tried e-mailing u but got a mailing error....just thought I'd let ya know........Malik
 
bustin ass is 100% right.... i didnt think my mcat score was all that (actually i think it sucked), but my GPA was around a 3.6 and i had good recs, ec's that showed that im not a bum and i shadowed 2 dos (one wrote me a tight ass letter!) and i remembered to sell myself at the interview. Remember, if u get an interview, its ur only chance to shine. Sell urself and let them know that u want it more than anyone else outthere.

hope this helps
 
oh yea,.. i got into CCOM where i think the avg mcat is around 28. Mine wasnt that high
 
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